Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Well it's over. The Obaguration, that is. President Obama is now officially in office. I watched the event from Khogyani Afghanistan, I'd like to say surrounded by soldiers, but there were surprisingly few present. I was a little disappointed actually. If you love him or hate him, he is their new Commander in Chief, and I know that when I was a Marine, I sure would have wanted to know what his plans were. Of course, I've been mostly disappointed by the US army as a whole, but that's a story for another time...

I'm a little irritated by the people who are already bashing this Obama guy. You haven't even seen him in action yet, how are you bashing him?

Anyone who thinks the President is anything other then a faceman for the government needs to go back and read the Constitution. In reality the bulk of the power is where it should be, in the hands of Congress. The President's job is to rally the people, interface with other Presidents and world leaders, and to be held accountable to the people for the shortcomings or successes of the government as a whole.

It's a thankless job. People kick you when you're down, and try to tear you down when you are up. They look for every little flaw, and poke at it until it either goes away or grows into something bigger. Sure, they get compensated, $400,000. a year. Sounds like a lot of money to the average American, but compared to the salaries that they could be earning at a major corporation, it's nothing.

So why do people run for the presidency? Some like the power, some like the presitge, some actually want to accomplish something for the good of the American people. I think President Obama falls into that category.

He's a great faceman. He's attractive, he's got an attractive wife, two adorable daughters. He's calm, collected, and always well spoken. But he's got that one quality that most other politicians lack. And he's got it in spades. He's got integrity. It just bleeds out of him and everyone around him sees it. They revel in it and are energized by it. It's how he got millions of people who have never shown an interest in politics to go out and vote. It's how he got two million people to leave their nice warm homes to stand out in the freezing cold DC air and watch him get sworn in. It's how he's energized the entire world to believe in him and the change that he represents.

And it's also poised to be his downfall. In his speech, he told us that the next few years will be hard work. Revitalizing this country will take time and effort and sacrifice. And people cheered, but they didn't truly hear him. Because when it comes down to it, we all want the easy fix, and we were hoping he would give it to us. He'll fix it, I'm confident in that, but not at the speed our microwaving, fast food eating selves want it to happen. And I think in a few months, when people start looking around, and nothing has changed, they'll start asking questions. And getting angry. They'll start suffering from a bad case of buyers remorse.

I hope I'm wrong, and I hope to be the voice of reason during this time. We're facing difficult times, and it's going to take time to fix it. All I ask is that we follow the person that we elected to get us out of this mess. Not blindly of course, but don't oppose him because things aren't happening fast enough. Do your part to help this change happen, whatever it may be. Cut your hours so you neighbor doesn't lose his job, nurture your children. Invent some new energy creating device that runs off of hopes and dreams. Do whatever you are capable of. Help this nation become great again. Become the change that President Obama has promised us will come, and watch some truly great things happen.